


TKG Valentines gift

by OdoroshiRider



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 08:12:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3349637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OdoroshiRider/pseuds/OdoroshiRider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for lychee-kun! I hope you don't mind this being kinda just friendshippy; it's what I'm most comfortable writing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	TKG Valentines gift

He did the same thing day in and day out--like a machine, going through pre-programmed steps one after the other with no discernable enthusiasm (or emotion in general, really). He wore the same expression: blank, unfeeling, glassy eyes staring at something that nobody else could see. He would come back to base from missions, and without making eye contact with any fellow Aogiri members would sit down upon one of the few of their ratty couches and crack open a book. Where he got these books, nobody knew or cared to find out, but nonetheless he had a new one every few days.

 

Ayato never really understood Eyepatch, himself; he didn’t care to. He didn’t bother with attempting to understand anyone in Aogiri, really--they weren’t worth his valuable time. Dragging a response out of the white-haired bookworm was much more effort than he was willing to put into him. So he allowed him to sit there, content to leave Eyepatch as nothing more than a snowy colored phantom lingering in his peripheral vision, content to pretend his existence away.

 

Still, though, there was something mildly irritating about Eyepatch’s phantom-esque presence, like an itch he couldn’t quite reach. He couldn’t help but wonder exactly why Eyepatch was so adamantly silent, so adamantly cut off; every reason he came up with was as vexing as the last.

 

He figured that, perhaps, the guy was purposefully ignoring the entirety of Aogiri as best as he could. Nobody that Ayato asked had been able to answer completely why Eyepatch had joined, or if he had an ulterior motive, or anything  aside from a shrug and some generic statement about half-ghouls. Ayato didn’t think it a stretch that he could possibly be biding his time, not becoming deeply affiliated, waiting for a chance for….whatever.

 

He found himself peeking over the top of the guy’s books from time to time, cocking an eyebrow, trying to discern what Eyepatch was hiding, though with little success. It dawned on Ayato that he wasn’t exactly the strongest reader--he’d never really seen reading as anything more than a basic necessity. He could do the essentials: signs, wanted posters, sometimes grocery lists if he had to help Naki decode what the words “soap” and “toilet paper” looked like. Aside from that he was….unfortunately illiterate. By the time Ayato had decoded perhaps half of a line, Eyepatch was already turning the page.

 

“Ayato-kun?”

 

He’d become so used to the silence that Ayato hadn’t recognized the sound of Eyepatch’s voice for a few moments; he continued squinting over his shoulder at the endless span of what looked like hieroglyphics until Eyepatch leaned his face into Ayato’s line of sight.

 

“Huh?” Ayato quickly shifted his posture, making somewhat of an attempt to play off what he’d been doing by leaning casually on the back of the couch. Each of his elbows hit the wood frame with a thunk so loud that a few other members that had been loitering nearby jumped and looked in his direction. So much for that. He shifted again, coughing. “What? What do you want?”

 

Eyepatch stared, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and fighting back laughter. “Nothing. Do you want something?”

 

“No.”

“You’ve been standing there for ten minutes.”

“That’s, uh…”

 

Ayato groped for an explanation but found none, instead opting for a series of noncommittal grunts and a shrug. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.” Ah, there was a good reason. He mentally patted himself on the back for advancing to high enough a rank where that was a valid excuse. “And that’s ‘Kirishima-san’, to you. Don’t fuckin’ -kun me, newbie.”

 

Eyepatch cocked an eyebrow, seeming displeased with the answer yet simultaneously somewhat dissuaded from pushing the matter further once he was reminded of his place. “Alright.” He gave a tiny shrug and turned steely eyes back toward his book.

 

Admittedly, that should have been Ayato’s cue to leave. He didn’t really fancy himself an idiot--there were plenty of other Aogiri members that had that designated role--but he couldn’t deny inability to read a situation well. He shifted and craned his neck to get another good look at the page, though he could only make out a few letters before Eyepatch was turning the page again. He squinted, leaned in a bit closer, tried to recall the books he’d been read to in his younger years--though those children’s books couldn’t hold a candle to this wall of text.

 

The page began to turn again and faltered.

 

The book closed slowly as Eyepatch turned for a second time. “Ayat-...Kirishima-san, you’re still standing there.” He blinked, raising his eyebrows in tandem.

 

Ayato bristled, snapping  “I can stand wherever the hell I want!”--though he realized that particular excuse wouldn’t really work for a second time. He folded his arms, opting to look in another direction as to not make eye contact instead.

 

He heard Eyepatch give out a little sigh, colored with subtle laughter that made Ayato’s cheeks burn with chagrin. “If you’re so interested in what the book says, you could have just asked to borrow it.” Eyepatch pointed out, extending the closed book in Ayato’s direction. “I’ve already read it a few times.”

 

Ayato paused, considered, and snatched the book out of Eyepatch’s hand. There was no use denying what he’d been doing now; he may as well capitalize on the guy’s inherent good-naturedness. He stared at the cover, squinting at the seemingly incoherent lines that he figured was the title. He could figure out, perhaps, the word “the” and “black”, but not really much else. “The….The black go…..” Trying to sound it out wasn’t quite working, either. “The black goa…?”

 

“The Black Goat’s Egg,” Eyepatch finished for him, “by Takatsuki Sen.” He paused. “Could you not read it? I had always thought…” He trailed off, seeming to think better than to finish his thought. “Ah, nevermind.”

 

“Thought what!?” Ayato spat back at him. He wasn’t stupid enough to miss what Eyepatch had been getting at. “Thought that I went to a shitty human school like my shitty sister? Don’t compare me to her, you piece of shit. I know better than to waste my time on that.” He tugged at his collar, scowling. “Real ghouls don’t waste time on humans. We eat them. It’s what we do.”

 

“If you don’t want to borrow it, just say-”

“I do wanna borrow it, shut up!”

“But if you can’t read it…?”

“I’ll figure it out!”

 

Eyepatch held his hands up as if in surrender. “Alright, alright. I’m sure someone here can tell you what it says. Try maybe...Eto? Or, ah…”

 

That much gave Ayato an excellent idea. He hurdled the back of the couch and dropped down next to Eyepatch, shoving the book in his direction with enough force to make an audible whump. “If you’re gonna be so smug, you do it. Tell me what the book says.” That would put the guy back in his place for sure. He couldn’t have Eyepatch holding that sort of superiority over him--plus, the idea of Touka of all people being able to do something he couldn’t vexed him to no end. He was the greater of the two--not her.

 

Eyepatch opened his mouth as if to protest, paused, seemed to think better of it, and gave a little sigh. He flipped the book open again, laying it flat for the both of them to see. “Alright, chapter one...” His voice was unsure; he slid a sideways glance at Ayato as if asking for confirmation that this was what he really wanted. Ayato blew out an irritated breath and motioned for him to keep going. Eyepatch gave a resigned shrug and started up the reading again.

 

The first few paragraphs passed by awkwardly--with Eyepatch giving a pause every so often to make sure Ayato was following, or had given up on the endeavor--though he quickly settled into a steady reading pace and continued with minimal breaks. There was a sort of emotion nestled somewhere deep in Eyepatch’s voice--a tiny, tiny flare of passion giving each word a little color as opposed to his usual monotone voice, monochrome overall disposition. Ayato was sure that he could get up and leave without the guy noticing, but there was something in the story that made him stay, made him lean in closer and examine the symbols that slowly, slowly began to make sense as Eyepatch read them aloud--nevermind the fact that Ayato still didn’t understand a good deal of them, even after having them read to him. The two of them were completely engrossed in the story; the distance between them closed inch by inch, word by word, filled with sentences, paragraphs, pages.

 

Eyepatch had to pause, snapping the both of them out of their reverie. He took a breath, laughing a bit sheepishly. “Sorry. Mouth’s dry. We got through a lot of the book, huh?”

 

Ayato blinked, startled out of the story, surveying right and left to affirm he was still in the Aogiri base. “Guess so.” He scooted away from where Eyepatch sat, not realizing that the two of them had crept closer together in the midst of the story. He fought back an embarrassed pink from creeping into his cheeks; he hadn’t realized how engrossed in the story he’d become, hadn’t intended for that to happen. He’d expected just a flood of words he didn’t know, didn’t bother himself to learn--not an actual story, like those he’d been read to as a child. He’d expected to come out of finishing each page despising Eyepatch just as much as he had previously, expected to be as indifferent to the words as he had been with….well, near everything, really. He hadn’t expected…….

 

Ayato shook his head to clear the thoughts. ‘Stupid.’

 

“Yeah, guess we did.”

“What did you think of it?”

“‘S alright.” Ayato shrugged.

 

Eyepatch gave a subtle, knowing smile, though before he could say anything, the door to the room opened with an audible creaking sound.

 

Eto bounced into the room with her usual flouncing steps and a high, girlish laugh. “Assignments for you two! Sorry to cut into special bonding time~!” She spun on a heel and gestured urgently for the two of them to follow; Ayato figured it was in his best interest not to refuse her.

 

He blew out a breath and stood up alongside Eyepatch, loathing both being not able to finish the book and loathing the fact that he even wanted to.

 

“You can borrow the book if you want, Kirishima-san. Just ask me about the words you don’t know.” Eyepatch was already walking out after Eto. His voice had drained of the color it had just a moment ago, leaving behind the monochromatic phantom that had been there before, the dead-eyed corpse that Ayato had previously ignored. It was a little sad seeing him snap back to that so quickly--sad enough to bring a little frown to Ayato’s lips but not quite sad enough for him to speak out aloud about it.

 

“Sure.” There wasn’t really any use in denying his interest in the book, though he figured it’d be less enjoyable just read to himself. Hell if he was going to give Eyepatch the satisfaction of knowing that he enjoyed how it had been read, enjoyed hearing the story give a little, just a little color to Eyepatch’s black-and-white.

 

“And, uh,” He paused

“Hm?” Eyepatch turned toward Ayato briefly.

 

“Just. Call me Ayato. Kirishima-san is….weird.”

“Alright. Just call me Kaneki. Eyepatch is weird, too.”

 

Kaneki left the room without another word, leaving Ayato there with the book in one hand and a head full of words he still didn’t know.


End file.
